Another night of drunkeness
by flowers of ice
Summary: Sequel to A night of drunkeness. Shouryuu convinces Enki to get Youko drunk again but what will happen this time?
1. The beginning

Disclaimer: If I really owned Twelve kingdoms, there would have been less of the political stuff and more humour and Taiki would have appeared more often.

Notes: Sorry it took a long time, but I had several unexpected blocks and I was a bit busy. It turned out longer than I had expected, so I decided to break it up into chapters instead of making it a one-shot.

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A day at the market

Enki looked at the goods on display in the market, a blue scarf around his head to hide his bright yellow hair, wondering what to buy when he caught a flash of silver among some of the goods. His interest piqued, he rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for: what looked like a small, metal box with strange buttons all over it.

''What's this?''

The shopkeeper shrugged.''The person who sold it to me said it was something he found on the seashore.''

''Could it be something from Hourai?''

The shopkeeper shrugged again. ''Who knows? Are you buying or not?''

Enki quickly paid for it and went back.

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Enki glanced around the empty hallway guiltily, not wanting anyone to see what he had bought. ''If it's really from Hourai, what do they use this for?''

He let his fingers wander freely all over the strange device, jumping when it suddenly emitted a beeping sound when his fingers accidentally pressed one of the buttons. He swore, stopping when he suddenly noticed the pictures and words in an unfamilar script which had appeared on the small screen.

''What's this?'' He pressed another button and the images on the screen turned into what looked like the hallway in front of him. He looked up at the hallway in front of him before looking at the hallway in the screen. He shifted his position slightly and the colours of the image became a blur before becoming the scene in front of him. He gingerly pressed another button and jumped again when the device suddenly emitted a flash of light. He looked at the screen again, surprised that the image had frozen. Convinced that he must have spoilt it by pressing that button, he shook it slightly and one of his fingers pushed yet another button. It reverted back. Curious, he pointed it at some birds and prodded another button. Nothing happened. He prodded another button. The screen played what the birds were doing earlier. A grin flashed across his face as he could do with it. He prodded another button and...

''What are you doing, Enki?'' His grin disappeared as he hid the device behind his back.

''N-nothing, Shouryuu.''

''You were playing with that thing, weren't you. Show me that device.''

Enki reluctantly handed it to Shouryuu and watched sullenly as he examined it. ''What does it do?''

''It can film objects.''

''I see. I suppose you were filming objects then.''

''Yes.''

''And what were you filming just now?''

''Birds.''

''Why don't we film something more interesting?''

''Like what?''

Shouryuu leaned forward and whispered in Enki's ear.

Enki reddened slightly. ''W-what? B-but we can't just get Keiki, Youko or Rakushun drunk and put them in the same bed again and expect to get away with it! And besides, isn't three too many?''

Shouryuu merely shrugged unconcernly. ''Then any two then. It probably won't make a difference anyway.''

Enki shifted uncomfortably. ''Well, are you really going to do that? Youko's nice but when she finds out we were behind all this, she's going to be scary.''

Shouryuu went over to a bench nearby and draped himself over it. ''It's not like she'll find out unless we tell her personally. Besides,'' he grinned a sly smile.''You won't look at her when I was undressing her and I want you to this time.''

Enki's face turned a deeper shade of red. ''B-but why?''

Shouryuu chuckled to himself softly. ''She's so pretty that it'll be a shame not to. And besides, for a person more than five hundred years old, you're not very experianced in some matters, are you?''

Enki pushed another button nervously. ''W-what do you mean?''

''For example, how much do you know about women?''

''Er...,'' Enki blushed even more before admitting.''N-nothing.''

''And,'' Shouryuu said somewhat dreamily.''It's time to know more.''

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Because of the blocks, I was rather tempted to skip to the part when Youko gets drunk but I remembered one of the reviewers of A night of drunkeness commenting it was too short so I made it a bit longer. The part about women is a bit like an extra scene because I couldn't think of a better way to end this chapter.If no one had figured it out yet, the device Enki bought is a digital camera. I know it's unlikely to find one on the seashore in good condition but I hope no one minds. A night of drunkeness got more reviews than I had expected because I thought no one liked Twelve Kingdoms.The next chapter should be finished soon.


	2. Planning gone rather wrong

Disclaimer: I don't own 12 kingdoms. This applies the rest of the chapters as well to save myself the trouble of typing it out every time I write a chapter.

Notes: I know I took a long time to update, but that's because I had a cold a few days after writing the first chapter. It took a long time for me to recover and soon after I finished writing part of this chapter, the computer broke down and it took ages to get someone to fix it.

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Enki sat on his bed, playing with his new 'toy', the device which he had acquired a few days ago, trying to find out what else it can do. Absentmindedly prodding the buttons, he jumped slightly when the picture of the hallway he had taken accidentally the other day appeared on the screen. He smiled slightly, daydreaming about what he would do with it when he found out how to take pictures and film objects. So far, he had only found out how to switch it in or off. Now, all he had to do was to remember which buttons he had pressed the other day.

He prodded another button experimentally and the picture turned into an image of the hallway, only pointed at the ground for some reason. He was about to press another button when he heard the sound of Shouryuu's voice coming from it.

''What are you doing, Enki?''

''N-nothing, Shouryuu.''

''You were playing with that thing, weren't you. Show me that device.'' Enki froze, suddenly remembering that day, paling as he realised what it could mean. If Youko got hold of this and if he didn't manage to somehow delete this in time other than by destroying it , which he didn't want to do...He thought for a while, when another thought occured to him. How much of he and Shouryuu's conversation the other day was recorded? Putting his new 'toy' to his ear, he strained to hear the next part of the conversation...

''You were playing with that thing, weren't you. Show me that device.''

There was a short pause before he heard Shouryuu's voice again.''What does it do?'' There was another pause before he heard his voice again.

''It can film objects.''

''I see. I suppose you were filming objects then.''

''Yes.''

''And what were you filming just now?''

''Birds.''

''Why don't we film something more interesting?''

''Like what?''There was a very long pause and Enki strained his ears. ''W-what? B-but we can't just get Keiki, Youko or Rakushun drunk and put them in the same bed again and expect to get away with it! And besides, isn't three too many?'' Enki felt his face redden but listened on...

''Then any two then. It probably won't make a difference anyway.''

Another short pause during which Enki became increasingly nervous. ''Well, are you really going to do that? Youko's nice but when she finds out we were behind all this, she's going to be scary.''

There was a very long pause, during which Enki was suddenly aware of the sweat on his face. ''It's not like she'll find out unless we tell her personally. Besides, ''There was a pause lasting a second or two.''You won't look at her when I was undressing her and I want you to this time.''

Enki's face reddened when he heard himself reply. ''B-but why?''

There was another pause during which he could hear Shouryuu chuckling softly. By now, Enki could feel sweat dripping off his face as he remembered Shouryuu's answer.''She's so pretty that it'll be a shame not to. And besides, for a person more than five hundred years old, you're not very experianced in some matters, are you?'' He heard something click and then silence. He strained his ears before vaguely remembering he had pressed another button. He let his arms drop to his sides, suddenly glad he had pressed the button before it could record any more of Shouryuu's teasing. If Youko really got hold of the digital camera, there was one thing he could be happy about: she wouldn't get to hear the last part of Shouryuu's teasing.

There was a sound of footsteps outside his door and he quickly switched it off and shoved it under his pillow. The door opened and Shouryuu appeared. ''As for the conversation we had the other day...''

Enki gulped. He had been hoping Shouryuu was only joking although years of living with him had taught him that he usually carried out what he planned, no matter how stupid it may be.

He shifted his position until he could see Shouryuu clearly, watching him warily in case he tried something funny.

''What's the matter, Enki? You look like some wild animal, watching me like that. It's not like I'm going to sprout horns or something.'' He paused, allowing his characteristic smirk to appear. ''Or perhaps,'' his smirk widened, much to Enki's annoyance. ''Being a beast affects your brains in more ways than I thought. Perhaps you should get a doctor before you start braying like a donkey of worse still, pissing all over the place like some dog.''

''Stop it, Shouryuu, before I do something nasty to you.''

''What are you going todo, Enki? You're not going to do this, are you?'' Without pausing to let Enki ask what he was up to, he said in a high pitched voice which sounded too much like a girl for Enki's comfort. ''What a cute guy you are, Enki,'' he said seductively, fluttering his eyelashes as he approached him, watching as Enki backed away, too frightened by Shouryuu's abrupt change in manner to say anything. ''So much that I want to kiss you.''

Enki's face paled until it was as pale as Keiki's, if not paler. Shouryuu moved forward like a predator, making soft noises with his lips as he did so. Now, they were only a few steps apart, and Shouryuu proceeded to cross the distance between them.

Just as Shouryuu was about to kiss Enki, there was a whirlwind in the room and Shouryuu was sent flying to the other end of the room. When he had recovered from the shock of being sent flying by the whirlwind, he found that Enki was gone. After he found Enki's clothes strewn all over the room, it didn't take him long to realise what had happened.

When he walked to the window, he was just in time to see the shape of Enki in his beast form disappearing into the distance at an incredible speed, apparently to get as far away from him as possible.

Shrugging to himself, he turned and left. After all, his real intentions in coming was to scare Enki out of his wits. As for his plans to get Youko, Keiki and Rakushun drunk, he'll give Enki his instructions some other day. After all, he had already made the neccesary arrangements already.

Notes: I'm not sure when I will be updating again because school reopened this week.


	3. Writing an invitation

I ended up writing two versions of this chapter because the first one somehow got deleted when I pressed the Save changes button, which was unfortunate as I have a very dreadful memory. I wrote a slightly improved version of what I could remember of the first version although I couldn't help having a feeling that I had forgotten quite a lot of the first version. I hope this isn't too bad though.

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During the days which followed the incident, Enki spent all his time moping in his room doing goodness knows what. Deprived of teasing Enki, Shouryuu vented his frustration on his unfortunate ministers by shooting rubber bands at them whenever their backs were turned, dumping marbles on the floor when they had urgent messages to deliver and worst of all, stomping all over the flowers in his garden which his poor gardeners spent hours tending despite knowing it was extremely childish of him to do things like that. Irritated by Shouryuu's antics, they eventually had to resort to tying him up and forcing him to admit whatever he did to Enki. Since Shouryuu was the only person who had the audacity to tease, bully, blackmail Enki,etc,he was the prime suspect for whatever happened to Enki. When he finally gave them a much edited account of how he scared Enki out of his wits, they immediately 'persuaded' him to do something to help Enki to get over the incident, and after hours of 'negotiations', they finally got him to get Enki to get over the incident.

It took days for Shouryuu to get Enki to get over the incident, but he managed it at last with the help of Enki's favourite treat: sweets from Hourai. It was troublesome to go over to Hourai, but he went anyway just for the sake of annoying his ministers, who were already pissed enough with him when they found out about the incident. And so, armed with enormous bags filled with sweets, he left it at Enki's door after knocking and left. When he returned hours later, he found several empty bags and an Enki who was back to normal.

Shouryuu was surprised that it was so effective, but he was pleased because they could finally get started. And so, Shouryuu told Enki about his plans, which comprised of sending Keiki, Youko and Rakushun an invitation to dinner, getting them drunk and putting them in bed and if they failed to get them drunk, they would have to drug them. It wasn't long before the first problem emerged: deciding what to write in the invitation without arousing any one's suspicions, particularly Youko, who was rather infamous for what she was like when angry. As for Keiki, they had yet to know what he was like when angry but they had no intentions of ever finding out.

They made a list of what to write, but even that took a long time because they kept crossing out each other's suggestions and kept arguing over even the smallest detail.When they started making drafts of the invitation, they made so many changes they had to write it out all over again, which was further delayed when Shouryuu found out that Enki was doodling all over the letter. As for the format of the letter, they wrote it in the following format:

First line: Greetings

First paragraph is to be full of crap.

Second paragraph is to be the invitation.

One line for commenting they hope they will come.

Last line is for writing their names.

After hours of non stop scribbling, the letter looked something like this:

Dear Keiki, Youko and Rakushun,

How are all of you? We went to the market disguised as beggars and had a lot of fun playing games. Shouryuu scared this kid by taking his toy and his mum attacked him with a rolling pin! We had a good time laughing about the look on her face when Shouryuu grabbed it before suddenly kissing her! After that, we had lunch at a really expensive restaurant and ran off without paying the bill. When the owner sent thugs after us, Shouryuu tripped them all and threw them into a lake.

Shouryuu wants to invite all of you to dinner next Friday in the evening at our palace because he misses all of you, particularly Youko. I told him that he could visit you whenever he felt like it but he won't listen. He can be such an ass sometimes, only don't tell him I said that.

PS. We hope you can come!

With love from Shouryuu and Enki.

They had a brief argument over whose name to put for the missing Keiki, Youko and Rakushun part. Enki managed to win by pointing out that since everything was his idea, Shouryuu's name should be written in the blank space intended for someone's name and of course, there was the argument about the With love part. Shouryuu put it there after pointing out that since both of them were involved in this, both of them should write their names there. After they had finally agreed on the letter's contents, the letter was finally sent.

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I was surprised there were no reviews for the second chapter since the first one got a lot but I guess that couldn't be helped since it wasn't particularly good. I hope this one is much better. Also, please take the time to review. It's nice to know when someone likes my story.


	4. Receiving the letter

I finished writing this days ago but because I wasn't satisfied with it, I ended up improving it until I was happy with it and it took a while because of that story I wrote for that mediaminer challenge. I think people who like my stories will like it is well.

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Far far away in the kingdom of Kei, a certain queen and her kirin were having a debate about some stupid political matter. Unfortunately, for Keiki, Youko noticed that he didn't seem to in the mood for it and it led to one conclusion: Keiki must be thinking about something. And so, in a rather misguided attempt to understand each other better, she asked him what he was thinking about.

''That incident when we ended up in the same bed.'' Keiki stated bluntly without the slightest hint of emotion on his face.

Youko sighed. If only Keiki wasn't so blunt...but at least her ministers are not around to hear this or she'll kill him for making such an embarrassing comment. But then, she reflected, since she's the one who asked him what he was thinking about, it was her fault as well. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she fished around in her head for an answer which won't result in an equally embarrassing reply and came up with one.

''Didn't I tell you already that I got drunk and had no idea what I did afterwards? said Youko exasperatedly.

''You were the one who made me drink the wine which got me drunk in the first place. Thus-''

Youko tried to calm herself down but failed miserably. ''Are you trying to say that the incident was my entire fault?

Keiki thought for a while. ''No.''

''Then why is it that I keep getting the feeling that you're trying to say that the incident was my entire fault?''

''Your majesty is just imagining things.''

''And why do you think I'm imagining things?''

''I don't know.''

''Then think of some better reply then.''

It was a long time before he thought of something to say but just as he was about to say it out, a servant entered. Youko glared at the servant, pissed that he had overheard their conversation. Even if what he heard was just a tiny part of it, it was enough to conclude that there was an incident and if the ministers got even the tiniest detail, they would do their own 'research', which involves interviewing everyone and making the servants spy on her. She knew they did it for her own good, but she couldn't help feeling like some helpless toddler who gets into trouble all the time.

''What is it?'' She asked irritably. The servant, quavering under her glare mutely handed her a letter. She read it through quickly and chuckled as she read through the first paragraph, at least until she noticed the servant still standing there. Suddenly remembering that unsaid rule that masters must dismiss their servants before they can leave, she kicked herself mentally for forgetting something she should know by instinct by now.

''You may leave.'' The servant heaved a sigh of relief and left, glad that he didn't have to endure Youko's glare.

''Who wrote the letter?' asked Keiki.

''Shouryuu and Enki.'' She replied, glad that he seemed to have forgotten about the incident.

''What do they want?'' Keiki asked rather brusquely. The last time they sent a letter, it was one asking for money to gamble at one of their casinos.

''They want to invite us for dinner.'' Keiki relaxed. At least they had the decency not to ask for more money. They had a hard time convincing the ministers that it was for a good cause when they found out she had lent Shouryuu some money without their consultation, especially when she won't say what the 'good cause' was.

''Well,'' she asked nervously.''Can we go?'' She waited for his reply, expecting Keiki to say they can't go because of some meeting she had probably forgotten about.

''Yes.'' Youko breathed a sigh of relief, happy that she didn't have some kind of meeting when she heard the sound of someone running. She spun round and saw one of her ministers hurrying towards her with some kind of letter in his hand.

''What's the matter?''

Instead of answering, he shoved it into Keiki's hands and stopped, gasping for air. Keiki immediately read through it.

''On second thoughts,'' he said. ''It seems we have two options: either neither of us go or you have to go alone.''

''Why?''

''It's an urgent message which requires my immediate presence. Judging from your expression, you clearly want to go so you'll have to go alone then.'' With that, he turned and left, leaving Youko alone with the minister. After dismissing him, she wondered about what to do.

''I guess I'll have to ask Rakushun along then.'' She noted the sun's position and exclaimed. ''Noon already?'' She paused, pondering what to do. ''If I send him a letter now, it may be too late. But if I'm lucky, he may get here in time and we'll be able to get there in time together.'' With that, she hurried off.

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The next chapter will probably take longer than usual since when I started writing this, I made a list of the ideas I had and I haven't got as far as the next chapter yet.


	5. Drunkeness

I made a few changes to chapter four. It's not important enough to change the plot but it's still worth checking out. Before someone complains that I took a really long time to write this, please note that it is really long this time. I wanted to make this three chapters but because I couldn't find a way to break it up into three chapters, it ended up as one really long chapter. As for the name of Rakushun's friend, I couldn't remember his name so I had to make up one for him. If anyone remembers his name, please let me know. Now, on with the chapter.

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In a university somewhere in Kei, Rakushun was studying in his room when his friend, Saki walked in holding several books with one hand while reading a letter he was holding with another.

''You seem to have a girlfriend, Rakushun.'' Saki said slyly. ''Tell me, what's this-' he squinted at the letter. 'Youko like?'

''What are you talking about, Saki?'' Rakushun asked, not looking up from the essay he was reading. ''You know I don't have one.''

''Then how will you explain about this?'' He read the letter aloud. ''Dear Rakushun, sorry to bother you right now when you are studying for your exam but Shouryuu invited us to dinner today. PS Please come to my place as soon as you can. Youko. There. As you should know, the only people I know who are called Youko and Shouryuu are our new queen and En-ou but since you can't possibly know them, I figured that it was some code you and your girlfriend came up with so-''

''When did you get this?'' Rakushun asked sharply.

''Hours ago. Ayu san was sorting through the letters when she came across yours and being the kind hearted soul I was, I offered to deliver it to you for her.'' Saki replied, surprised that Rakushun is getting a bit excited.

''Give it to me now.''

''What's up with it anyway?''

''Just give it to me.''

''Alright.''

Saki handed him the letter and Rakushun snatched it. Rakushun read the letter and his eyes widened.

''What's the matter?''Saki asked, surprised that Rakushun seems to be less than pleased about the contents of the letter although he didn't detect anything strange about it other than the fact that the message was rather strange.

''Sorry, Saki, but I have to go now.'' With that, he hurriedly packed his few belongings and ran out of his room.

''What's up with the letter anyway?'' Saki wondered aloud when a thought occurred to him. ''Hang on, it couldn't possibly be the _real_ Youko and Shouryuu, could it? Not possible. His girlfriend must be really scary. After all,all she wanted was for him to get to her place quicklyand he got so scared. Maybe I should ask the others if they know any woman who's really scary.''

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At the entrance of Kimpa palace, Youko waited for Rakushun, drumming her fingers impatiently on the fancy railings. It was getting late and there was still no sign of Rakushun. She sighed. Maybe she shouldn't have asked him along. The sun was sinking fast and she'll to hurry if she wanted to get there in time. If he doesn't get here within ten minutes, then she'll have to leave without him. Just then, she heard the sound of footsteps and she spun round expectantly only to see one of her servants heading towards her. ''What is it?'' She asked irritably.

''A visitor arrived and he's asking for you.''

''What's his name?''

''Rakushun.''

''Take him here at once.''

''Yes, your majesty.'' The maid bowed respectfully and left.

After what seemed like an eternity to her, she saw the tiny, furry shape of Rakushun.

''You're late.'' She said as she watched him run as fast as he could towards her.

''I know.'' He said apologetically, scratching his head absentmindedly.

''Let's go.''

They mounted their beasts and left. During the journey, he couldn't help noticing that Youko seemed to be a bit distracted.

''Is something the matter?''Rakushun asked.

''No.'' lied Youko, wanting to tell him the truth but not wanting him to know that she was unhappy about such a small matter.

''Don't lie to me. When you have that look on your face, you want to tell me something but feel too shy to say it.''

''Well,'' Youko said, surprised that her friend knew her so well. ''There _is _something but I can't help feeling a bit embarrassed about it since it's really childish.''

''But what is it?''

''Well, when the message from Shouryuu and Enki arrived, Keiki said we can go together but later on, he told me I will have to go by myself because of some urgent matter. I know the country's problems are more important than some dinner party and it's childish of me to say so but I can't help feeling annoyed that he just left without saying anything.''

''Well, '' Rakushun said thoughtfully. ''It's natural to feel annoyed when someone makes some kind of agreement with you but tells you later on he can't, especially when he doesn't seem to have any regrets about it. Still, it's rather childish of you since matters of the state _are _more important than some dinner party. Are you still a little angry?''

''Yeah.''Youko said miserably. ''If Keiki is more like you, Shouryuu or Enki, he and I will be able to get along better.''

''You know, he's trying to understand you better but somehow, whenever he tries to, you and him almost always end up feeling annoyed with each other. And besides, he's still trying to get over the former queen.''

''And?''

''Well, if you talk to him more about your feelings, I'm sure things would be fine between you and him.''

Youko smiled at Rakushun, suddenly much happier about the way things were going. ''Thanks, Rakushun.''

''No problem,'' Rakushun turned around on his beast to look at Youko. ''Besides, friends should help each other in times of trouble, right?''

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By the time they arrived, the sun had set, which meant they were just in time for dinner. The attendants, who were waiting for their arrival quickly attended to them and led them to the pavilion where Enki and Shouryuu were waiting.

''We were going to start without you, you know.'' Enki said, yawning.

''Come on, the food's getting cold.''

''Err, are there any drinks?'' Youko asked, trying not to sound rude, especially to a king who has ruled a kingdom for five hundred years. ''I'm thirsty.''

''Sure.'' Shouryuu poured a cup of wine and handed it to Youko. ''You can sit next to me if you want.''

''Thanks.''

Enki poured himself a cup but when he was about to drink, his hand suddenly jerked and the wine spilled over Shouryuu.

Shouryuu got himself some wine and splashed some at Enki.

''Hey, what's that for?''

He splashed some at Shouryuu.

Shouryuu splashed some more at Enki.

Enki filled his cup and splashed it at Shouryuu and some of it landed on Youko, who was sitting next to Shouryuu.

Chuckling softly to herself, she too filled her cup and splashed some at Enki.

''Youko,'' Rakushun said somewhat disapprovingly. ''Wine is for drinking, not for splashing at other people.''

''You're right, '' Shouryuu said,grinning. ''So let's have a drinking contest! Whoever drinks the most wins!''

They started drinking while Rakushun watched rather disapprovingly. Soon, Youko noticed that he was not drinking.

''Why aren't you drinking, Rakushun?''

Rakushun looked at Youko, who was already rather tipsy. ''Well...,''

''Don't be a wet blanket, Rakushun.''

Rakushun reluctantly poured some for himself. ''All right then.'' He drank it and pretty soon, he was as drunk as Youko.

Enki and Shouryuu stared at them for a while before doing a hi-five.

''It worked! They're drunk now!''

''Don't go celebrating too soon, Enki. We still have to get them to the room we prepared for them.''

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Just getting Youko and Rakushun to their room proved far more difficult than they had imagined because for what Rakushun lacked in height, he made up for it in width. Also, both of them were a lot heavier than they looked so Enki and Shouryuu were forced to put both of them on the ground to rest their aching muscles during therather longtrip to their room.

At last, they succeeded in dumping Youko and Rakushun on the bed. After removing Youko's outer robe, they got up and left. While they were leaving, Enki thought he saw Shouryuu put something on the small table nearby but being too tired to care, he simply dragged himself to his own room and fell asleep almost instantly.

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The next morning, Rakushun stirred. Reaching out his hand without opening his eyes, he groped around for the books he always put somewhere near his bed but only came into contact with something soft which definitely did not feel like his books. Thinking it was the buns he bought yesterday for breakfast, he reached out again and felt something warm. Rakushun paused and reasoned that it was probably a prank one of his friends played on him. Maybe it's just a hot bottle wrapped up in something soft but for the moment, he was too sleepy to get up, at least until he became aware of the weight on the side of the bed he was not occupying. Opening one bleary eye, his fur suddenly stood on end as he realised who was in the bed with him.

''What the-'' Before he could finish his sentence, Youko suddenly rolled over and woke up.

''What-'' was all she uttered before she screamed. Rakushun pressed his ears against his head, bristling slightly at the sound until he noticed something on the table.

''Err Youko, '' he asked tentatively when she had finished screaming and pointed at it. ''What's that?''

Youko followed his gaze and her eyes widened when she realised what it was. ''Isn't that a digital camera?''

''What's a digital camera?''

''Never mind that.'' Without pausing to explain, she jumped out of the bed and when she realised that it was switched on and recording their antics, an ominous look appeared on her face as she switched it off.

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Later in the day, Enki found that his digital camera was missing. When he remembered the previous night's events, it didn't take him long to figure out what Shouryuu must have done. He rushed into Shouryuu's room and grabbed Shouryuu's pillow before shaking him awake.

''What is it, Enki?'' grumbled Shouryuu as he attempted to get his pillow back.

''What did you do with my digital camera?''

''Oh that.'' Shouryuu said sleepily. ''I put it in the room Youko and Rakushun are occupying right now.''

''W-what!'' Enki exclaimed. ''But it recorded our conversation the other day!''

''So?'' Shouryuu yawned and rolled over. ''You should have told me earlier. For now, just go out and let me have some sleep.'' With that, he grabbed his pillow back and went back to sleep.

''Damn that Shouryuu.'' muttered Enki as he stormed out of Shouryuu's room.When he went past Youko and Rakushun's room, he found that it was empty. Apparently, both of them had woken up already, which was rather unusual since most kings and queens like to sleep late. Pausing to check that no one was around, he slipped in and proceeded to search the room for his beloved digital camera. When he heard the sound of footsteps, he immediately dived under the bed. From under the bed, he saw two feet clad in a rather plain pair of shoes walk around, looking for something, accompanied by two feet he easily recognised as Rakushun's.

''How strange. I'm pretty sure I heard someone rummaging around just now.'' Youko said.

''Relax, Youko.'' Rakushun said. ''No one's around. We'll better get back before Keiki gets worried and comes to fetch you back to Kimpa palace.''

''You're right.'' Youko said thoughtfully. ''I guess we'll get going then.'' From under the bed, Enki watched Youko leave and breathed a sigh of relief. At least he hasn't been discovered yet. Suddenly, Rakushun bent down and looked under the bed.

''Hi.''

''How did you know I was here?'' Enki asked curiously.

''Well, '' Rakushun said, his whiskers twitching slightly. ''I have a good sense of smell, you know.''

''I didn't know that.'' Enki said, staring at Rakushun's nose before looking at his whiskers, wondering what Rakushun's whiskers would look like in plaits.

''I guess I should get going then. Bye.'' Rakushun said and left.

The moment the door swung shut, Enki resumed his frantic search. When he finally admitted that he'll probably never see it again, he went back to his room to find something better to do while mourning the loss of his digital camera.

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In the next few chapters, Youko will be getting her revenge. I was going to make it the sequel but since I'm not particularly creative with titles, it will be the next few chapters of this.


	6. A bet and a 'confession'

A big thanks to the reviewers who reviewed although I didn't update for such a long time because of my exams. I started working on this chapter the same day I finished my exams although I was a little depressed from being bullied by my classmates and I ended up staring at the computer screen for a long time before I thought of what to write. Enjoy.

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Chapter six

Youko nudged Rakushun. ''Hey, Rakushun.''

''What?''

''What do you think Keiki would say when he finds out?''

Rakushun tugged his whiskers nervously. ''I don't know.''

''How about a bet?''

Rakushun thought for a while before whispering back. ''What are you betting he'll say?''

Youko bent down and whispered into his ear.

Rakushun's whiskers twitched in amusement. ''I doubt he'll say something like that. How much are you betting?''

''I don't know. How about a few coins?''

''Alright then. I bet he won't say something like that.''

Youko smirked. ''I bet he would say something like that.''

She held out her hand and Rakushun shook it.

''Deal.''

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When Keiki came to fetch them, they had a hard keeping their faces straight. In fact, their struggles to keep themselves from giggling became so apparent that even Keiki, who normally doesn't notice such things knew that something was up.

''Is something the matter?''

Youko and Rakushun glanced at each other guiltily. At last, Rakushun decided to 'confess'.

''Err...something did happen.''

''What is it?''

Rakushun glanced at Youko, who was starting to regret making the bet.

''We'll tell you later.''

For the rest of the journey, he didn't bring it up again and Youko's hopes that he had forgotten the whole thing rose.

Unfortunately, her hopes were crushed. The moment they arrived at Kimpa palace, he ushered them into Youko's room, shut the door and turned towards them.

''Now, would your highness tell me everything?''

Youko cringed. Somehow, even after months of living in the palace, she still could not get used to people using terms such as 'your majesty' or 'your highness'.

''Well?''

She thought for a moment, wondering how to begin when Rakushun saved her.

''Well,'' he said sheepishly. ''Youko and I got drunk and were put in the same room.''

Youko and Rakushun waited, wondering who will win the bet. There was a short pause, which was eventually broken by Keiki.

''I see.'' he said, his face devoid of expression.

Youko's eyes narrowed dangerously. Obviously, it wasn't quite what she expected him to say. It seems that she has lost her bet. ''What do you mean, I see?''

Keiki blinked. ''Well, it was a better thing to say than commenting that you seem to be getting drunk all the time before ranting about how embarrassing it is for our kingdom to have a queen who seems to have a habit of ending up in other people's beds.''

Behind Youko, Rakushun sighed in disappointment. Youko had predicted with an uncanny accurancy that Keiki would say something along these lines, not that it had turned out the way he had expected . Taking a deep breath to calm herself down to minimise the feeling of elation while dancing around in her head, Youko continued.

''I was expecting you to say something along these lines but it wasn't quite how I imagined you would say it.''

Keiki stared at her for a moment. ''Expecting something usually doesn't affect the way it turns out unless you order me to do something.''

Youko decided to push her luck a little. ''And what if I expect you not to keep commenting about what has just happened?''

''I will not comment but I will ask Hyouki to use his scent of smell to identify the culprit because Jouyu cannot tell us what has hapened when your highness is asleep.''

''Why?''

Keiki stared at her for a moment as if she had grown several extra heads. ''Because Jouyu can't do anything when your eyes are closed.''

''Oh...,'' Youko said, unable to believe she was capable of such stupidity. Beside her, Rakushun sniggered in spite of himself. She turned to him with a rather hurt look and he stopped. Shooting a furtive glance at Keiki, who was not paying attention to them anymore, he slipped a few coins from his purse and passed it to Youko, who pocketed it quickly.

Keiki turned his attention to the ground. ''Hyouki.''

A voice answered from somewhere. ''Here.''

''Sniff her highness for other people's scents.''

''Yes, Taiho.''

The enormous form of a blue dog appeared from the ground and started sniffing her. Youko shied away, giggling, much to Rakushun's amusement.

''It tickles.'' she said apologetically.

Hyoki returned back to Keiki, his tail wagging like a dog. ''It's useless. Whatever scents on her were covered by the smell of the alcohol present in the wine she apparently drunk.''

Youko sighed in disappointment. She had been looking forward to knowing who the culprit was.

''Sniff Rakushun as well.''

Youko looked up as Hyoki trotted over to Rakushun and started sniffing.

''No luck.''

Youko stared at them, wondering what will happen next and fingered the coins happily. At least she gained something out of the whole business, even if it was only a few coins.

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Constructive critism will be much appreciated since I'm not sure whether I got them in character. I don't think I'll change Saki's name because Meiken turned out to be a nickname.


	7. Plans

I was going to delay writing this because of a cold but I ended up writing it anyway. Enjot the chapter. I rewrote it twice.

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Chapter seven

Youko sat in her room, racking her brains. The whole matter was getting more and more ridiculous by the minute. First, she and Keiki were somehow put in the same room while they were drunk and now this. She paced the room, muttering to herself when Rakushun entered.

''What are you doing, Youko?'' he asked curiously.

''I'm trying to think who might be the person who put us in the same room,'' she said, reddening slightly.

''Any luck so far?'' Rakushun asked, his whiskers twitching slightly.

Youko sighed. ''Nope. It can't possibly be Shouryuu since he's too nice to do that and I don't think Enki would do such a thing anyway. It can't be Keiki either, since he was so shocked when he and I woke up. Enho was busy attending some official function, Shokkei was visiting one of her friends and Suzu...hey, it couldn't possibly be her, can it?''

Rakushun scratched his chim thoughtfully. ''Enki was rummaging around in our room that morning for something-''

Youko sat up, her emerald green eyes narrowing. ''That's strange. Now that I think about it, I didn't see him at all that morning and the only time I saw him was when he came to say goodbye.''

''Well, he was hiding under the bed when you thought you heard someone.''

''Did he tell you what he was doing?''

''No.''

''I guess we'll have to ask him what he was doing in our room then.''

Youko ran and exited through the door, almost colliding with Shouryuu, who happened to be outside the room.

''Sorry.'' Youko looked up and blinked in surprise. ''It's you. What are you doing here?''

''Enki and I were just visiting.''

Her thoughts cleared and she remembered what she was going to ask Enki. She looked around. ''Where's Enki?''

Shouryuu pointed to the roof, where Enki was eating peaches.

Taking a deep breath, she shouted. ''Enki, I want to ask you something.''

Enki froze in the middle of taking another bite from his peach and turned pale.

''Are you alright, Enki?'' Youko asked, concerned.

''It err...,'' an insane idea suddenly popped into his mind. ''It was just a ...stomachache.''

''That's probably a result from eating too many peaches.''

Enki jumped and turned around just in time to see Shouryuu smirk. Shouryuu obviously knew what was the source of Enki's discomfort, but he didn't seem set to 'rescue' him from Youko and Rakushun. Shouryuu turned to Youko, a charming smile plastered on his face.

''Is something the matter, Youko-chan?''

Enki choked on his peach and coughed violently while Youko reddened slightly, surprised that Shouryuu had attached a 'chan' to her name.

''Err..,'' she suddenly remembered. ''I wanted to ask him what he was doing rummaging around in my room that day.''

There was a nasty sound from the roof when Enki manged to cough the piece of peach up and spat it out. It landed with a rather unpleasant sound on the pavement.

''Well, Enki,'' Shouryuu said, ignoring the piece of peach which had narrowly missed his head. ''What were you doing rummaging around in Youko-chan's room that day?''

Enki sent a glare at Shouryuu. If Shouryuu wanted to give the game away, so be it. An evil smirk appeared as he answered. ''I was looking for something.''

''And what is that 'something', Enki-chan?''

Enki bristled at the 'chan' attached to his name and thought quickly. Inspiration came, blowing a trumpet is it made its slow passage into his head. ''Well,'' he said innocently. ''Shouryuu suddenly remembered that he left his best pair of underwear in your room and sent me to get it.''

If Shouryuu was annoyed, he didn't show it. ''Oh, I remember now,'' he said slowly, allowing an amazingly convincing look of sudden realisation to spread all over his handsome features. ''If there's nothing else, we'll be going back now. Bye.''

''Bye.'' Youko said dazedly as she watched Shouryuu practically drag Enki along as they left.

''Well?'' Rakushun asked. ''What's our next step in finding the culprit?''

Youko considered her very limited options carefully, something not helped by the fact that she was still in a daze. ''Looking for Suzu and asking her where she was that day.''

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A few reviewers asked about a few things in chapter six so I changed a few details.


	8. Suzu

Unfortunately, this chapter is much shorter than the other chapters. However, the next few chapters will probably be much longer than this.

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Chapter eight

''What!'' Suzu exclaimed. ''Someone put the two of you in the same room while you were drunk and you suspect me?''

''It's not like that, Suzu,'' Youko said hastily, wanting to calm Suzu down.''We just wanted to check where you were.''

''I was just visiting a few friends with Shokkei, if you want to know,'' she said rather stiffly. ''And besides, the reason I'm mad is that someone would dare to do something like that to you and Rakushun.''

''Then you'll help us find the culprit?''

''Of course. Which friend won't help a friend in need? Are there any clues?''

''Well, we found a digital camera but I don't think it'll help much.''

''Let me see it.''

Youko felt around in her sleeve and took it out.

''What can it do?''

''Well, it can be used to take pictures and film objects.''

''Have you checked it to see if there's any pictures?''

''No,'' Youko said sheepishly.''We didn't think of that.''

''Then it's time to check.''

A few minutes later, there were shocked expressions on their faces.

''It can't be!''

Youko replayed the clip and fast forwarded it. Enki's voice emanated from it.

''W-what? B-but we can't just get Keiki, Youko or Rakushun drunk and put them in the same bed again and expect to get away with it! And besides, isn't three too many?''

''Then any two then. It probably won't make a difference anyway.''

''Well, are you really going to do that? Youko's nice but when she finds out we were behind all this, she's going to be scary.''

''It's not like she'll find out unless we tell her personally. Besides, you won't look at her when I was undressing her and I want you to this time.''

''B-but why?''

''She's so pretty that it'll be a shame not to. And besides, for a person more than five hundred years old, you're not very experianced in some matters, are you?''

''W-what do you mean?''

''For example, how much do you know about women?''

''Er...n-nothing.''

''And it's time to know more.''

There was silence. Suzu broke it.

''What are we going to do now?''

''We're going get our revenge.'' Youko said, still reeling over from the shock of finding out that Shouryuu and Enki were behind the whole thing.

There was a rustling sound outside and everyone's jerked towards the source of whatever had just made the noise.

'Is there someone outside?' asked Suzu.

'I'm not sure.' replied Youko.

'I'll check if someone was outside then.' Rakushun said and they watched silently as he got up and left.

When he came back seconds later, they stared at him expectantly.

'Well?'

'There's no one outside.'

'Anyway,' said Suzu. 'How are you planning to get your revenge?'

Nobody answered.

Youko twisted here fingers nervously. ''I haven't thought of that.''

From the top of the roof, Enki breathed a sigh of relief.

'Who's there?' asked Youko.

Enki immediately flattened his body against the top of the roof and watched as Youko come out of the room and look around. When she saw nobody, she went back in.

Enki went back to the palace, satisfied that he had not been caught spying on Youko and the others.

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Because of my end of year exams next month, I'll have to put the story on hold in a few more weeks in order to make more time to study. Much as I hate studying, I still have to since I really have to work on my subjects. Until then, wait for the next chapter. A big thanks to those who kept reviewing despite me putting the story on hold for a long time and the shorter chapters.


	9. The dream

Chapter nine

'Any ideas yet?' asked Rakushun.

Youko shook her head irritably.

'Should we just forget the whole business?'

'Maybe we should...'

'Youko?'

Rakushun and Youko jumped. It was Keiki.

'What are you two talking about?'

'N-nothing.' stammered Youko when a thought struck her. 'What are you doing here in my room anyway?'

'I was worried when you didn't turn up for a meeting this afternoon.'

'Oh. I didn't know it was so late already.'

Her stomach suddenly grumbled.

'Is your majesty hungry?' inquired Keiki.

'I guess so.' replied Youko, surprised by Keiki's concern.

'I shall ask the kitchen to prepare some food then. Is Rakushun hungry?'

There was another grumbling sound.

'Yes.' Rakushun said sheepishly.

'We'll be waiting for you in the dining room then.' said Youko, after some hesitation and she got up.

Just as she was getting out of her room, Keiki suddenly reached out and grasped her sleeve.

'Is something wrong?' asked Rakushun.

'No. You go ahead first'

When Rakushun was out of sight, Youko turned to Keiki.

'Is something the matter?'

'Yes.'

Keiki's face was as expressionless as ever, but for the first time, Youko sensed that Keiki was at a loss at what to say.

'Then?'

'I overheard you talking about getting revenge on Shouryuu and Enki the other day and...I want to help.'

'Is that because you want to get revenge on Shouryuu and Enki?'

'No.'

'Why?'

'Revenge does not solve problems. Also, queens should not be so eager to get their revenge on someone just because that someone played a few pranks on them.'

'Then why do you want to help then?'

Keiki thought for a while. 'Because you won't be happy until you get your revenge.'

'Are you doing this to make me happy then?'

'Yes.'

'Why?'

'Because a queen should be happy if she wants to do her job well.'

'So you're doing this so that I can do a better job at ruling Kei?

'Of course.'

Youko's stomach grumbled again, only louder this time.

'I suppose you should hurry to the dining room then.'

'I guess we should then.'

'It's you.'

'Why?'

'Because I have to ask the kitchen to prepare some food first.'

'I forgot.' Youko said sheepishly. 'Are you joining us for lunch?'

'No.'

'Why not?'

'I have eaten my lunch already. Besides, I have work to do.'

'Oh...'

'I'm going to the kitchen now.' They were almost at the dining room already. Keiki turned and headed towards the kitchen. Youko stood, watching Keiki until he turned around a corner and disappeared.

When she sat down at the dining table thinking about Keiki's words, she saw that Rakushun was watching her intently.

'What did Keiki talk to you about?'

'He said that he wanted to help with the whole business.'

'Really?'

'Is there something wrong with wanting to help her?'

They jumped. Keiki had come back.

'Didn't you say you have work to do?'

'I did, but I wanted to ask you if you had anything in mind.'

'Er...'

'I was wondering if you had any idea how you want to get your revenge.'

'Er...I don't have any ideas yet.'

'Just as I thought.' He turned and left, leaving Youko and Rakushun wondering why he even volunteered to help in the first place.

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For the rest of the day, Youko couldn't help thinking of Keiki's words and wondering what it could mean. She was starting to have doubts about the whole business. Part of her wanted to forget everything which had happened in the last few weeks, but another part of her wanted to get back at Enki and Shouryuu for what they did. On second thoughts, making fools out of Shouryuu and Enki should be more than enough. After all, the both of them did the same thing...

When night came, she drifted into an uneasy sleep. She dreamed that she was surrounded by light, floating in an enormous bubble. She blinked, trying to see where she was. Then, there was a strange flapping sound somewhere in the distance. She strained her eyes, trying to see what was making the flapping sound. After some time, she started making out the figure of a tall man. As the bubble she was in floated closer, she saw that it was Keiki.

She opened her mouth to greet him, but no sound came out. Another two figures emerged and as they approached, she gasped. It was Shouryuu and Enki.

To her surprise, the three of them started chasing each other around, shouting obscenities at each other whenever they nearly tripped over their elaborate clothes.

'Damn it!' exclaimed Shouryuu after a while and clicked his fingers. There was a puff of smoke and when it settled, they saw that they were dressed like the kind of medival European princesses which often appear in fairy tales.

'What the heck did you do, you idiot!' Enki yelled, pulling at the clothes he was wearing in disgust.

'Nothing.' Shouryuu said innocently and started whistling like nobody's business.

'You bastard, how dare you play these kind of pranks on Youko, Rakushun and I?' hollered Keiki, whose hair was now curly.

Shouryuu responded by pulling a face at Keiki.

'You-' screamed Keiki, as Enki tripped him. He fell ungracefully on his face and when he got up, he glared at Enki, who was holding a mirror up.

Youko chuckled. Keiki was covered with bits of grass all over him.

'How dare you!'

Enki's lower lip trembled as his eyes started filling with tears.

'I thought you were my friend!' wailed Enki and Keiki at the same time and burst into tears.

'Whatever.' said Shouryuu, amused by their behaviour.

'I won't be surprised if you are a result of your mother fucking with her all her fingers!' yelled Keiki.

'Really, such language.' Shouryuu said, pretending to be hurt. 'You shouldn't use your ability to speak several languages to swear like that, you know.'

'Why?' asked Enki, curiousity getting the better of him.

'Because I'll get angry if you do so.' said Shouryuu, with an aura of menace around him. A black cloud suddenly appeared on top of his head and soon, lightning flashed across the 'sky' and the rumble of thunder could be heard.

Before Enki and Keiki could move, a flash of lightning struck them and they flew for several feet before landing.

'I'll get you for this, fucker!' bellowed Keiki.

'What are you going to do?'

Keiki whipped out a small bottle from somewhere. 'I'll force feed you with this.' he said triumphantly.

'And what's that? Baby food? You've got to be kidding me.'

A triumphant gleam appeared in Keiki's eyes. 'It's laxatives.'

A look of horror crossed Shouryuu's face. 'No, not that.'

Keiki and Enki leaped towards him and while Enki held Shouryuu down by seating on his chest, Keiki forced Shouryuu's mouth open, unscrewed the cap of the bottle and looked inside. 'Oops. It's empty.'

There was a deafening silence as Shouryuu succeeded in shoving Enki off his chest. 'It seems that I've won after all.' He moved towards the both of them. Enki stuck his foot out and Shouryuu tripped and fell on his face.

'Just kidding.' Keiki held up another bottle, forced Shouryuu's mouth open and poured the entire contents of the bottle in. Shouryuu writhed on the ground, holding his stomach. 'I can't take it anymore!'

There was a flash of light when lightning suddenly struck him, and when it was gone, they saw that Shouryuu had vanished. Keiki and Enki danced for joy.

'The evil Shouryuu has finally been banished!'

In the enormous bubble somewhere far, far away, something clicked in Youko's mind and she finally knew how to get her revenge on Shouryuu and Enki.

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Sorry about taking such a long time to update. I had an unexpected writer's block after my exams. Keiki, Shouryuu and Enki were extremely ooc in Youko's dream but that couldn't be helped because dreams can be very weird sometimes. Also, I have edited chapters 7 and 8 and had got rid of several spelling mistakes and a sentence which wasn't supposed to be there.


	10. Meeting

Chapter ten

Light filtered in through the curtains of a room. In the middle of the richly decorated room, there was an enormous bed. And on that bed was a sleeping girl with bright red hair. She is Youko, the new queen of Kei. She snored gently, a tendril of her hair moving closer and closer to her nostrils with each breath she took. She snored again, and this time, the tendril of hair got in her nose. She sneezed before rolling over and going back to sleep, but the damage was done. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will herself back to sleep, but at that moment, someone knocked on the door. She groaned sleepily, knowing that it was Keiki. He had come to wake her up. She reluctantly opened her eyes, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the light in the room. There was another knock on the door. 'I'm awake already.'

'Then get up.' Although she couldn't see him, she could almost sense his impatience.

Youko yawned. 'Why should I? It's still early and the only meeting I have to attend today is in the afternoon.'

'In answer to your question, isn't it about time you started planning how you're going to get your revenge?'

'Oh, that.' She yawned again, only louder this time. 'That can wait until later.'

'We can't wait. The perfect opportunity has come.'

'What?' She asked sleepily.

Behind the door, there was a sound. Maybe Keiki is going to bash his head against the door any minute, she thought. She chuckled softly. Keiki cleared his throat and she stopped. Maybe he had heard her. 'Shouryuu asked if he and Enki could have lunch here next week.'

Youko sat up in her bed, suddenly wide awake. 'Really?'

'Yes.'

'Send for Suzu, Shoukkei and Rakushun.'

'As you wish.'

She heard him going off to get them and the moment she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, she dropped back to her bed and stared at her ceiling. After such a long time, she would finally have her revenge on Shouryuu and Enki but for some reason, she didn't really want to. Thinking about how to get her revenge was fun, but when she actually got to it, everything somehow becomes different. Maybe she was the kind of person who was all talk and no action. She wondered what Keiki thought of her. No doubt he was annoyed when they found themselves in the same bed. But still, was that worth getting back at them? Maybe not. Maybe. Shouryuu had once told her that 'maybe' was a word she should not use during meetings as it makes the ministers think that she was an indecisive ruler. It was definitely something she did not want to happen. Now, there was two choices: forget about the whole business or go ahead with it. She hesitated. Which should she choose? Both are equally tempting. Just then, she remembered something Rakushun had once told her. At that moment long ago when she had to choose between Hourai and this world, she was torn as she could not bear the thought of leaving Hourai or this world behind. Now that she thought about it, it was almost like that time, only this time, it was of less importance. Rakushun's words drifted back into her mind. When making a difficult choice, choose the one which she would regret less later. But which would she regret less later? If she simply decided not to go ahead, in the future, she would regret letting such a wonderful opportunity to get her revenge pass. On the other hand, if she went ahead, would she regret doing so? Not likely unless she did something really unpleasant to Shouryuu and Enki. She sat up. She had made her choice: to get her revenge. Youko got up and hurriedly put on her robes on. When she was done, she quickly looked for some paper and a pen and when she had found both, she began scribbling the ways in which she would get her revenge. Just as she was about to finish, there was a knock on her door.

'I have brought both Suzu and Shokkei.' said Keiki from behind the door. 'Rakushun would be coming later.'

'Let them in,' said Youko, not looking up as she scribbled down the last word. They entered and sat down. Suzu stared at the piece of paper Youko was writing on.

'What are you writing?'

'The plans for revenge.'

'The ideas for revenge?' asked Suzu before suppressing a yawn. Next to her, Shokkei struggled to suppress a yawn. She and Suzu had spent the night chatting and both of them had managed to sleep only a few hours before Keiki woke them up. Suzu rubbed her eyes while Shokkei leant forward to see what Youko had written on the piece of paper.

'Yes.' said Youko.

'Finally, ' said Keiki. 'I thought you would never start.'

'Then?' asked Suzu.

'Laxatives.'

'What are laxatives?' They jumped slightly. It was Rakushun. 'Looks like everyone had started already. Sorry I'm late.' He moved towards Youko's bed, which was the only place left to seat on and sat down.

'Don't worry,' said Youko. 'We've just started. By the way, laxatives are a kind of medicine which helps to relieve people from constipation.'

A thought suddenly struck her and she stared at Rakushun for a moment before turning to Keiki.

'Are there laxatives in this world?'

Keiki thought for a while.

'I think not.'

Youko sighed. 'I should have thought of that. There goes part of my plans to get my revenge.'

Another thought struck her and she looked at the plans. 'And what about blood powder and sneezing powder?'

They answered with blank looks and Keiki stiffened. Great, she thought. She should have known. Youko was starting to feel stupid. Ever since she became the queen of Kei, she had been missing Hourai. Of course, it was nice here but without the things she was used to, she felt as though her old home was truly lost to her now. After a while, Keiki sensed her awkwardness and spoke. 'Is the blood powder dried blood made into some kind of powder?'

'No.' She wondered idly for a moment what Keiki or any of the others would do if she had told him that it was really dried blood made into a kind of powder when Rakushun asked a question she thought he would ask.

'And what is blood powder?'

Youko thought for a while. She had seen blood powder in a shop while on holiday with her parents once but it was when she was little. 'It's..., ' she struggled to remember. '... a kind of powder which is sprinkled on soap and when someone uses the soap, he or she will er...become redder the more he or she washes with the soap.'

They stared at her. 'And what is it used for?' Suzu asked curiously.

'It's used for er...playing pranks.' said Youko, playing with a strand of her hair nervously.

'And the sneezing powder?'

'It makes people sneeze.'

'And what are your plans?'

Youko thought for a while, trying to remember the plan she had come up with in the morning and realised that she had forgotten already. She was starting to panic when she remembered that she had written them down already. She quickly read it. 'My plan was to invite Shouryuu and Enki to dinner, serve them food laced with laxatives, make them use handkerchiefs sprinkled with sneezing powder and use soap sprinkled with the blood powder.'

'And?' asked Shokkei, who was starting to get bored.

'Since these obviously don't exist in this world, we'll have to come up with another plan then.' Youko walked over to her window and was about to tear up her plans and throw them out of the window when to her surprise, Rakushun spoke.

'You don't have to.' said Rakushun.

Youko turned away from the window. 'Why?'

'Because...,' Rakushun paused for a while. 'Keiki could go to Hourai and get the things you need if you want asked him to.'

'But...' said Suzu.

'It may be troublesome to go there, but I am willing to do it.' said Keiki.

'It's not that. How are you going to pay for everything?' asked Suzu.

'I could use money.' said Keiki.

'The money there is different from the currency used here.' said Youko.

Keiki faltered. 'Do you have any money from there?'

'Err...,' The truth was although she did have some money when Keiki brought her to this world, she was not sure if the amount she had was enough to pay for everything...she mentally calculated the money. It was just enough to buy the laxatives, sneezing powder and blood powder. Lucky that her parents gave her so much pocket money for being such a good girl. She swallowed and met his eyes.

'Yes.'

She reached into the sleeves of her robe and got her purse out. After counting out the money, she handed it to him. They watched as he put the money carefully into his purse.

'So...I just have to get the sneezing powder, blood powder and laxatives. Anything else?'

Youko glanced back at the paper. 'Plastic bags.'

'And plastic bags.'

'So...how long do you think you will take to come back?'

Keiki did not answer. It was apparent he did not know.

'Then...I suppose you should go now then.' said Youko.

'Then I'll go now.'

'So...bye then. And good luck.' They watched silently as he transformed and disappeared out of the window. Youko stood, watching the tiny speck which was Keiki grow smaller and smaller until she could not see him anymore. After a few minutes, Shokkei spoke.

'So what are your plans?'

Great. She had messed up again. How could she have forgotten to tell Keiki what were her plans?

Seeing the look on her face, Suzu decided to try to comfort her. 'Don't worry, ' she said. 'Keiki only had to get those things you needed. When he gets back, we'll tell him.'

Yes, Youko thought. They'll tell him.

In a few days' time, she'll have her revenge.

In a few hours' time, Keiki might be back and they could start discussing their plans.

And while waiting for Keiki to return, she'll have to attend a meeting without him for the first time.

..(V)  
(+'.'+)  
(")..(")


	11. Shopping

Frankly, after reading through all the chapters to refresh my memory while writing, I'm amazed that people even bother to read it. However, since it would be a pity to simply dump this story when it's nearly finished, I think I will still finish it. Unfortunately, how it takes it another matter as I'm very busy now. As it's been such a long time since I've written anything, it shouldn't be surprising if my writing style has changed. As this chapter has been written over quite a number of months, it might be a little choppy in some places.

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Chapter 11

Youko sat at her desk in her room, tapping her fingers nervously. It had been several hours since Keiki had left and she was already regretting letting him go all the way to Hourai to get the blood powder, the sneezing powder and the laxatives. She swung her feet, willing Keiki to come back as fast as he could. The meeting was in ten minutes. If he did not come back within the next ten minutes, she would really have to face sitting through the meeting without him. Silently cursing herself for not thinking of asking him to go to Hourai after the meeting, she took a sip from the cup of tea a servant had left for her on the table and tried to calm herself down.

She tried to tell herself that it was only a meeting, but it was useless. Maybe she was too used to having Keiki with her during those meetings. It was lucky she had no idea what Keiki was actually doing right now and had no way of knowing...

In a clothes shop somewhere in Japan, a sales assistant and several curious passers bys stared, their jaws dropping open as they watched a tall man with long white hair walk in while a little boy with long golden hair tried desperately to drag him out. They stared even more at their clothes. After all, both of them were dressed in clothes which looked as though they belonged to an ancient Chinese dynasty. As if that wasn't enough, those clothes looked like they were made of silk, which is known to be extremely expensive. Their unusual hair colour made them stick out like a sore thumb even more.

'That's not the right shop, you idiot!' hissed the boy with golden hair, glancing furtively at little children pointing at them and several parents trying to stop them from pointing. 'Why the heck did you drag me here when you seem to be doing well on your own?'

The tall man with white hair turned backwards to look at him. 'I need you to show me where the shops are located.' Then, he turned around and walked to the counter, Enki's attempts to drag him out having no effect at all.

When he got to the counter, the first thing he asked the sales assistant was if laxatives, blood powder, sneezing powder and plastic bags could be bought there. There was long, awkward silence as the sales assistant stood at the counter, wondering how to respond to the tall, strangely dressed man in front of her as she stared at his handsome features, several rather inappropriate fantasies forming in her head. The silence was broken when Keiki, thinking the sales assistant was deaf, repeated his question, a little louder this time.

The sales assistant stirred from her M-rated fantasies and stuttered that he could get those items at the joke shop next door before her face turned a brilliant shade of red when he asked her if she could accompany him (and his friend, who has been forgotten already) to the joke shop.

Flattered that she had such a handsome man's attention, she nodded, not trusting herself not to make an even bigger fool of herself as she wanted to impress him.

'Bring me to the joke shop.'

Stumbling a little on her way out, she led them to the joke shop next door and Keiki and Enki followed. Behind them, several curious onlookers followed, wanting to watch so that they could gossip about it with their friends.

When they reached the entrance, she stopped and looked up to find Keiki looking at her expectantly.

'Aren't you going to show us where laxatives, blood powder, sneezing powder and plastic bags can be found?'

'O-of course.' she stuttered, rather pleased with herself that such a handsome man needs her help to find what he was looking for. 'This way.' She led them into the shop, so blinded in her quest to impress him that she failed to notice the onlookers following her and the two strangely dressed strangers.

When she had found the laxatives, blood powder and sneezing powder, Keiki took them from her and asked her about the plastic bags. Blushing as she noted the extremely short distance between them, she stuttered again as she told him that he could get plastic bags for free at the counter. When he stood, not moving at all, she pointed towards the counter. 'That's the counter.'

Not speaking, he headed towards the counter, ignoring the queue of people already there waiting for their turn and placed the laxatives, blood powder and sneezing powder on the counter, ignoring the outraged looks on the faces of the people in the queue as he fumbled in his pockets for the money Youko had given him.

'N-no!' She stuttered, racing towards him. 'You have to queue.'

He stared blankly at her. 'What's a queue?'

Her jaw dropped. How was she supposed to explain what a queue was?

'Erm...a queue is...' She struggled to find words to explain what a queue was. 'That.' She pointed at the queue.

He looked at the queue as if noticing it for the first time. 'Do I have to wait for my turn like them?'

'Yes.'

'I see.' He gathered his things and moved towards the queue.

When it was his turn, he took a long time to find his money and not knowing how to count the money Youko had given him, he put all of it on the counter and waited for the cashier to count it out for him. As the money was in extremely bad condition, the cashier refused to accept it and she ended up paying for Keiki.

When they left the shop, Keiki turned to Enki. 'It's time to go back.'

'W-wait.'

Keiki turned towards her. 'What?'

'After helping you the whole day, I still don't know your name.'

'And why do you want to know my name?'

She blushed. 'I d-don't know.'

'My name is Keiki. Since you know my name now, I'll be going now.'

With that, they left, leaving her staring at them as they went off without looking back.


End file.
